The present invention relates generally to telephone communications, and specifically to automated interactive telephone systems.
Interactive telephone systems, generally known as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, have achieved very broad use in businesses and particularly in telephone-based services. A user phoning into such a system receives a computer-generated voice prompt and responds by pressing an appropriate key or keys of the telephone. Pressing the telephone keys generates standard DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency) signals, which are received by the IVR. There are sixteen different DTMF signals defined by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), twelve of which (corresponding to digits 0 through 9, * and #) are used with standard telephone keypads. The user input can lead to additional voice prompts and responses, continuing until the IVR has received all of the information it is programmed to solicit. The IVR may also receive and record voice inputs from the user.
Anyone who has interacted with IVRs of this sort is aware of their shortcomings and the frustrations that they cause. Generally, at each stage of the interaction, the user must listen to an entire menu of choices. The process is time-consuming and requires that the user remember which key will invoke the desired choice. Because of the limitations of this interaction model, the user must navigate linearly from one stage to the next in a rigid, pre-programmed branching structure. There is generally no choice but to return to the beginning if it turns out that the user has chosen the wrong branch at some stage. Verification of the user""s input is provided by time-consuming voice playback. The user can generally correct errors, when they occur, only by repeating the entire erroneous entry.
Telephones with graphic user interfaces are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,775 describes a telephone with a touch screen (a xe2x80x9cscreen telephonexe2x80x9d), having selectable graphical objects displayed on the screen to correspond to the push buttons of traditional telephones. The screen can also be used to display enhanced telephone service features, such as caller identification and automatic redial. A user of the screen telephone is able to download over the telephone network different multimedia interactive interfaces to run on the screen, including textual, graphic, animation, audio and video media.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved systems and methods for automated interactive telephone applications.
It is an object of some aspects of the present invention to provide interactive telephone systems and devices offering enhanced flexibility, speed and ease of use.
It is a further object of some aspects of the present invention to provide interactive telephone systems and devices that are accessible to the hearing-impaired.
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, an interactive telephone subscriber unit comprises a display on which a flexible graphic user interface is shown. The interface is configured and varied in real time responsive to DTMF signals conveyed over a telephone line from an interactive telephone system, or IVR, in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol. The protocol enables an operator of the IVR to generate screens on the user device that include both text and graphical elements, and which prompt the user to make selections and input data in response. Optionally, the IVR is programmed to generate voice prompts, as well, in conjunction with the screens that are displayed. Preferably, the display comprises a touch screen, by means of which the user enters selections and alphanumeric responses. Alternatively or additionally, user responses may be entered using a standard telephone keypad. In either case, the user inputs are coded and returned to the IVR as DTMF signals.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the subscriber unit comprises a full-function telephone, with an appropriate display. The telephone includes a microprocessor programmed to generate the graphic user interface based on the DTMF communication protocol. In other preferred embodiments, the subscriber device comprises a stand-alone box with a suitable processor and display, which is connected to the telephone line together with a conventional voice telephone.
The present invention thus enables businesses and other service providers to construct combined visual and audio applications for automated transaction processing and information retrieval over the telephone. Depending on how the present invention is implemented, little or no modification is generally required to the service provider""s existing telephony infrastructure or to IVRs known in the art (although it is necessary that the subscriber have an appropriate subscriber unit). Rather, a suitable authoring tool is used to design the screens and then to generate the DTMF codes corresponding to the screens, in accordance with the protocol. These DTMF codes are then recorded for playback by the IVR instead of or in addition to the recorded voice prompts that are currently the sole means available for user interaction. For users who are equipped with suitable subscriber units, interaction with IVRs that are programmed in this manner is substantially faster and more efficient than with IVRs known in the art, and enables service providers to provide greatly enhanced functionality. Such subscriber units and IVRs can also be used by the hearing-impaired.
There is therefore provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for telephone communications, including:
providing a protocol that defines a relation between predetermined graphic elements and respective sequences of dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals;
designing a screen to be displayed including one or more of the graphic elements;
generating an encoded representation of the screen using DTMF signals in accordance with the protocol; and
transmitting the encoded representation over a telephone line to a telephone subscriber unit, whereby the one or more graphic elements are displayed by the subscriber unit responsive to the encoded representation of the screen.
Preferably, providing the protocol includes providing an ordering mechanism, which enables different arrangements of the graphic elements to be defined on the screen, wherein designing the screen includes defining an order of the graphic elements using the ordering mechanism, and wherein the telephone subscriber unit renders the graphic elements to a display associated with the unit responsive to the defined order and in an arrangement dependent upon a characteristic of the display.
Preferably, the predetermined graphic elements include one or more on-screen push-buttons. Additionally or alternatively, the predetermined graphic elements include one or more alphanumeric elements, wherein designing the screen includes determining a font in which one of the one or more alphanumeric elements is to be displayed and generating an indication of the font in accordance with the protocol. Further additionally or alternatively, providing the protocol includes providing a mechanism for playing a voice output at the subscriber unit in conjunction with displaying the one or more graphic elements. Moreover, additionally or alternatively, providing the protocol includes providing a mechanism for generating a representation of a non-predetermined graphic element, and wherein designing the screen includes inputting a bitmap in accordance with the mechanism.
Preferably, transmitting the encoded representation includes loading the encoded representation into a interactive voice response system (IVR) and programming the IVR to transmit the representation in response to a call from the subscriber unit.
Preferably, designing the screen includes designing an interactive screen so as to generate a prompt for a reply at the subscriber unit, and the method includes receiving a user input at the subscriber device responsive to the prompt. Most preferably, receiving the user input includes receiving an encoded representation of the user input using DTMF signals in accordance with the protocol. Additionally or alternatively, receiving the user input includes receiving a voice input. Further preferably, the method includes transmitting an encoded representation of a further display screen responsive to the user input.
There is also provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for telephone communications, including:
receiving dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals corresponding to an encoded representation of a screen to be displayed including one or more graphic elements; and
rendering the one or more graphic elements to a display responsive to the received DTMF signals.
Preferably, receiving the DTMF signals includes receiving signals that define an order of the graphic elements in accordance with a predetermined ordering mechanism, which enables different arrangements of the graphic elements to be defined on the display screen, and rendering the one or more graphic elements includes rendering the elements responsive to the defined order and in an arrangement dependent upon a characteristic of the display. Most preferably, rendering the elements in the arrangement dependent upon the characteristic of the display includes arranging the elements in a manner consonant with a resolution of the display. In a preferred embodiment, arranging the elements includes adding a scroll bar when a resolution needed to view all of the one or more graphic elements exceeds the resolution of the display.
There is additionally provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a telephone subscriber unit, including:
a display;
a telephone line interface, adapted to receive dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals over a telephone line; and
a processor, which is coupled to receive from the telephone line interface a sequence of the DTMF signals representing a screen to be displayed including one or more graphic elements, which are encoded using the DTMF signals, and to decode the DTMF signals and, responsive thereto, to render to the display the one or more graphic elements.
Preferably, the subscriber unit includes a memory, which stores data associated with a predefined protocol for use by the processor in decoding the DTMF signals and rendering the one or more graphic elements. Further preferably, the one or more graphic elements include alphanumeric characters, and the memory stores a plurality of fonts, which are recalled by the processor so as to render the characters as specified by the protocol. Alternatively or additionally, the one or more graphic elements include graphic icons, which are recalled by the processor for display as specified by the protocol.
Preferably, the screen rendered by the processor includes an interactive screen that includes a prompt for a reply by a user of the device, and the unit includes a user input device, which is operated by the user to provide an input responsive to the prompt. Further preferably, the processor generates an encoded representation of the user input using DTMF signals and transmits the DTMF signals through the telephone line interface. Preferably, the user input device includes a touch-sensitive screen. Alternatively or additionally, the user input device includes a keypad. Further alternatively or additionally the user input device includes a microphone, through which the user inputs a voice response.
There is further provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a computer software product, including a computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer, cause the computer to display a screen including one or more graphic elements selected by a user from among a predetermined set of graphic elements, and to generate an encoded representation of the screen using dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals, to be transmitted over a telephone line to a telephone subscriber unit, in accordance with a protocol that defines a relation between the graphic elements in the set and respective sequences of DTMF signals, whereby the one or more graphic elements are displayed by the subscriber unit responsive to the encoded representation of the screen.
There is moreover provided, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an interactive telephone system, which stores an encoded representation of a screen to be displayed by a telephone subscriber unit, the screen including one or more graphic elements selected from among a predetermined set of graphic element, and the representation including DTMF signals that encode the elements in accordance with a protocol that defines a relation between the graphic elements in the set and respective sequences of dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals, and which transmits the encoded representation over a telephone line to a telephone subscriber unit, whereby the one or more graphic elements are displayed by the subscriber unit responsive to the encoded representation of the screen.